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2016-10-18 07:52:27

GILD

Gilead

$72.64

-0.11 (-0.15%)

07:52

10/18/16

10/18

07:52

10/18/16

07:52

Gilead price target lowered to $100 from $122 at Baird

Baird analyst Brian Skorney lowered his price target on Gilead to $100 from $122 as questions about the durability of Hepatitis C sales plague the stock. The analyst sees the sales decline slowing down and stabilizing and so has trimmed his estimates accordingly. Skorney maintains his Outperform rating on Gilead shares.

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GILDGilead

$72.64

-0.11 (-0.15%)

10/18/16

JEFF

10/18/16NO CHANGEJEFF

Jefferies sees 'attractive buying opportunities' in Biotech

The Jefferies Biotechnology team sees "attractive buying opportunities" amidst the pre-election weakness. While volatility will likely continue into the election, valuation multiples are near-historic lows and policy concerns, while valid, are likely overstated, the analysts tell investors in a research note. They recommend using the weakness to buy select names ahead of a potential improvement in sentiment. Jefferies likes Gilead (GILD) and Celgene (CELG) among large-caps, The Medicines Co. (MDCO), Alkermes (ALKS) and Vertex (VRTX) among mid-caps, and Alder Biopharmaceuticals (ALDR), Cempra (CEMP), Ultragenyx (RARE) and Immunomedics (IMMU) among small-caps.

RBC Capital analyst Michael Yee said his conversations with doctors leads him to think two dolutegravir HIV "doublet" studies being conducted by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and ViiV Healthcare - Glaxo's joint venture with Pfizer (PFE) and Shionogi - are likely to work and present an underappreciated risk to Gilead's (GILD) HIV franchise. Talks with investors lead Yee to believe few are even aware of this risk and that the consensus view is underestimating the probability these non-inferiority trials will work. Arguing that the consensus view should factor in more conservative assumptions for Gilead's HIV business post 2018 due to this risk, Yee cut his price target on Gilead to $95 from $105, but keeps an Outperform rating on the shares.

Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges says abstracts for the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, or AASLD, meeting revealed very limited efficacy information about the new Hepatitis C regimens for Gilead (GILD), Merck (MRK) and AbbVie (ABBV). Nonetheless, the analyst believes the abstracts hint at the potential competitive threat to Gilead's HCV dominance. While the new 12-week HCV regimens may compete on price, the forthcoming 8-week regimens put the most pressure on Gilead's market share, Porges argues. He reiterates a Market Perform rating on Gilead's shares.

09/27/16

09/27/16DOWNGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst downgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst downgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Gilead (GILD) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink with analyst Geoffrey Porges saying he's now "outright bearish" on the company's Hepatitis C virus business. 2. J.M. Smucker (SJM) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse with analyst Robert Moskow saying that while the company raised its cost savings target as expected, he underestimated the hit to sales from difficult comparisons. 3. Discovery (DISCA) and Scripps Networks (SNI) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at MoffettNathanson. 4. Carter's (CRI) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo with analyst Ike Boruchow saying his quarter-to-date store checks indicate "choppy" retail traffic trends and "deeper" pricing/promotional pressure. 5. Dollar Tree (DLTR) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Atlantic Equities with analyst Sam Hudson saying the second half comp inflection expected by consensus is "too demanding" and he expects multiple contraction if Family Dollar does not turn around. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.